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Tampa bay museum

Usually I am a sucker for any car museum therefore I can’t imagine how I missed the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. But, I did. Inexcusable on my part.

But, a few months ago my friend Dale Powers asked if I wanted to go to Pinellas Park, about 35 miles north of my home in Anna Maria, Florida. He was looking for a home for his DB Le Mans and there was a French car museum in Pinellas Park that we might both enjoy

Off we went and, indeed there is The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum located in Pinellas Park and, yes, it is primarily French cars. And, yes, the pretty little DB eventually found a new home and is now on display amid some pretty wonderful and beautifully restored cars.

Panhard: the Dynamic was made from 1936-9. It was the largest unibody car made at that time, with the steering wheel in the center of the dashboard. Even today, the styling is very dramatic!

Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos courtesy of the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

At Retromobile, a few years ago, I picked up a copy of “Le Guide: Musees Automobiles de France,” published by the magazine “Auto Passion.” The guide covers 36 car museums. Some are well known: the museum at the LeMans circuit, the Schumpf (their equivalent of a National Motor Museum), Le Manoir, near Rennes, the Cadillac museum near Tours, the Henri Malartre museum, housed in an old mansion, near Lyon. I’ve seen all of these, and they are definitely worth seeing. But as it turns out, you can visit one of the most outstanding French car museums, without even leaving the US. That’s because it is located on the west coast of Florida – the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. [Read more…] about French Cars at Florida’s Tampa Bay Museum